Building Roads While the World Wilts

By Doug “Uncola” Lynn via TheBurningPlatform.com

As mentioned in an article last month, I have been helping out friends by driving a 10-speed triaxle dump truck (6AM to 6PM) 2 to 3 days a week this summer.

Using older but well-maintained dump trucks and newer state-of-the-art excavation equipment, six guys working full-time, plus me helping out part-time, are removing the concrete on a stretch of road and several streets in a small town located in an adjacent county. Additionally, we are coordinating with two road engineers, and conferring with local utility employees overseeing the project.  Our crew is handling the overall excavation, installation of underground drainage infrastructure, dumping the old concrete in designated land areas, hauling away dirt to two other locations, and hauling in rock from two separate quarries. All of this is being done in advance of a paving company’s final pouring of the concrete.

In some ways, excavating pavement is like a war: It is a daily grindfest whereby demolition is ongoing and progress takes time. Our crew consists of an onsite Colonel, so to speak, who operates the big machines and confers with the engineers and local employees, a Captain acting as the site supervisor, a Sergeant who musters the crew and drives a dump truck as needed, two grunts who can also operate skid-steers, end-loaders, backhoes, rollers, and graders, plus myself and another driver who are hauling and dumping non-stop all day.

The General of the company is my age and oversees the operations of his other businesses from the main headquarters. His son is the Colonel in charge of excavation and works closely with the engineers and the local city and county employees. The Captain is 20 years younger than me but, given his career under the sun, he looks only about 10 years younger. He is an experienced site supervisor but has been with this company for only about one month.  The Sergeant is in his upper 20s. He is a decent mechanic and well-rounded equipment operator and overall “go to” guy. The grunts are 22 and 18 years old and, like the sergeant, have been employed by this excavation company for all of three weeks; about as long as me.

Although it has been years since I drove a 10-speed truck, and in spite of never having driven a Mack dump truck before, it has been going well.  To spare my left knee from double-clutching all day (clutching to neutral then clutching again into gear), which is required for a non-synchronized transmission, I have been “floating gears” instead. This is a method of bypassing the clutch and aligning the engine speed (RPMs) and vehicle speed to the exact gears at the right time.

An Eaton Fuller 10-speed transmission is basically a low-range 5-speed manual transmission beneath a high-range 5-speed. The low and high ranges are separated by a “range selector” (or splitter) button on the stick shift.

For those who are interested, the below video shows what it’s like to align the RPMs, vehicle speed, and gears in a 10-speed truck.

The upshifting begins at: 15 seconds and the downshifting begins at the 1:56 mark.

Notice a couple of things:

– When upshifting a fully loaded truck, the transmission is usually shifted through six gears before a speed of 15 MPH is reached. This is about the amount of time required to cross an intersection from a full stop at a stoplight

– When downshifting, the RPMs (via tachometer gauge) and vehicle speed (via speedometer) must be paired to the exact right gears, with an extra step, as follows:  1.) Monitor the (slowing) vehicle speed while braking  2.)Shift out of higher gear 3.) Rev engine to proper RPMs 4.) Shift into the correct lower gear.  In other words, because of reduced engine speed while slowing down, the extra step of revving the engine (step 3) is required to sync the transmission into the required lower gear:

Although the guy driving the newer (unloaded) truck in the video makes it look pretty easy, it can actually be somewhat tricky, especially, when carrying up to 17 tons of payload over varying road surfaces, around sharp corners, and up and down steep hills.

As mentioned before, it’s a total grindfest all day long:  Hauling old concrete away from the demolished road, then removing load after load of excess dirt, then hauling and dumping rock back in for the underlayment of the new road.

So far, I’ve backed down hills, over long stretches of mud, dirt, sand, and rock; backed around tight corners in reverse, traveled backward through narrow small-town alleys, and have reversed down hills AND around tight corners, both, for some hauls.

The early 2000s Mack dump truck I’ve been driving has a reverse button (in addition to the splitter) on the gearshift.  This is something I’ve never seen in a semi-tractor (or Class 8 truck) before, but it’s pretty cool because it allows me to shift and downshift in reverse. I’ve actually shifted, and downshifted, through three gears while going backward on longer stretches. This is an efficient and time-saving option for a dump truck but it can also be dangerous, at exactly the wrong time, if the button isn’t engaged or disengaged as required: especially when loading or dumping in tight spots, on hills, over ledges, or under power lines.

On my workdays, I am up at 5:30 AM and then off to work.  I take a Carhartt lunch bag containing ice packs, sandwiches, an apple or raw vegetables, and two healthy granola bars along with a half-gallon Coleman water jug, and a quality thermos containing two cups of hot (instant) coffee.

At the garage location, I pre-inspect the truck, load up my gear and then, on most days, will head off to a quarry to take a load of rock to the jobsite. Then, I will haul non-stop for the next 10 to 11 hours without breaks. I drink and eat while queued at the quarry or on the jobsite, and sometimes while driving down the road. My bathroom stops are taken at the remote land locations where the dirt or old concrete is dumped, or on a lonely stretch of two-lane road with a flat, fat, and dry shoulder, or other times I’ll stop at a convenience store that provides a roadside pull-off for the truck.

Although the CB radio is broken, the AM/FM radio works, and the air-conditioning blows just cool enough to take the edge off the warmer days. But on the extremely hot and humid days, the AC is a losing battle because I must keep the window lowered at the jobsite to hear the horn honks of the excavators:  One honk to stop backing and another beep for me to pull away when full.

The quarries are busy in ways that remind me of an ant colony and the choreography of construction equipment on the jobsites, as seen looking backward through my side mirrors, are sights to behold; and all amidst the clamorous cacophony of diesel engines roaring and the beep-beep-beeping sounds of equipment in reverse. In fact, it sounds like angry dinosaurs raiding a prehistoric aviary.

Certainly, the guys in the crew work very hard. Harder than me.

And beyond the occasional “Fuck Biden” signage, people out here on the edge seem to be ignoring The Borg.

For how long?” I wonder.

Recently, the panicked internet headlines were screaming over a pending diesel shortage. But later headlines have claimed diesel demand is set to drop.

Either way, it seems to make no difference out here on the fringe; at least for now. One morning, the “Captain” drove one of the trucks to the jobsite at 7 AM and left it running.  When I drove by again at 2PM, the rig was still idling. This is much different than when I’ve helped out driving bus for my local school system. At the schools, the rule is to shut down the diesel engines if idling longer than 5 minutes. But the dump trucks we are driving this summer are older so no modern EPA-mandated DEF (Diesel Exhaust Fluid) concerns.  Most of the trucks and equipment run non-stop all day and the fuel tanks at the main shop have yet to run dry.

On another day off from driving, I read a blog post mentioning the Supreme Court ruling on abortion and typed the following comments, and question, in that thread:

We know SCOTUS, like the DoJ and FBI, has been mostly assimilated by The Borg.

We also know SCOTUS had five decades to overturn Roe v Wade.

So why now?

Of course, I had my own opinion on the matter, but wanted to see if anyone else shared my views.  Bingo. The commenter “Herc” replied as follows:

After they lock us up in the fall, and the election results show a democratic sweep in the middle of night from all the mail in votes….they will say the abortion vote was what turned the tide

Whether that happens or not remains to be seen. But that kind of plausible deniability could definitely be used to explain away a Democratic Party sweep this fall – in spite of record-high inflation and fuel prices.

Obviously, history has demonstrated the “vote harder” strategy is about getting the base riled and keeping the dupes in the dark with deceptive narratives.

A war has been declared on patriotic Americans… yet very few conservatives fully understand the warfare being waged. We are witnessing propagandized psychological, legal, and legislative campaigns advanced by the globalists that are designed to handicap and hamstring the enemy; their enemy, that is: American patriots and political conservatives.

And if you think I’m a conspiracy theorist, well, even Sleepy Joe Biden’s advisor, Brian Deese, had the following to say regarding record-high fuel prices:

This is about the future of the Liberal World Order and we have to stand firm.

The Orwellian Jan 6th hearings and new gun control measures are designed to set up Red Flag Snitches in both red and blue states. The recently passed background checks on young adults are just another way to establish a comprehensive “list” of (young) Americans acquiring semi-automatic weapons.

There have also been reports in the news about Google’s A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) becoming sentient. I have wondered in the past if the online (collectivist-leaning) Wikipedia encyclopedia will soon serve as a universal informational database for the global brain of a supercomputing entity designed to rule humanity by a digital fist.

Of course, nothing would surprise me anymore.

So how else might The Great Reset War Toward a New World Order progress? Given all the potential variances that might occur, it is hard to predict with 100% accuracy. But, for now, I’ll just say this to those who wish to rule the world:

1.) Good luck creating an A.I. device or an algorithm that can effectively drive a dump truck

and

2.) It will be an entirely new war if, or when, the hard men on the fringe correctly adjust their “collective focus” on those now facilitating The Great Reset

In the meantime, here are a few observations from one helping to build roads while the world wilts:

America is beautiful

Every day, I am humbled and gratified by the sights I see – and to the relaxing soundtrack of the diesel growling, the jet-engine whine of the turbo, and the howl of wheels over the road. Verdant hills and patriotic small towns filled with American Flags waving in the breeze. Rolling ribbons of road and winding rivers. Mothers pushing strollers and little kids on their bikes waving and pumping their arms vertically as a signal for me to honk my horn.  Ladies tending to gardens and smiling men conversing in the town squares. Tiny tots toting towels on the way to the pool.

The sun shines on it all.

America is industrious

How can only seven men excavate multiple roadways in a matter of weeks? Because we ride upon the minds of those who conceived and created the machines.  Through the ages, mankind has engineered ways to get stuff done; and, in so doing, they’ve continuously innovated ways to do it better.

And with the properly engineered tools, there isn’t much that can’t be done.

In most all of the small towns I drive through, I see people still building and producing: Machine shops, trailer manufacturers, ag and construction equipment fabricators, et al; and in all of those businesses, machines are used to assemble those conceptions into reality.

Let the machines do the work

Out here on the edge, I must prepare and sustain two machines: One mechanical, and one biologically based. Although the biological unit has an impressive carbon-based central processor and smoother hydraulics, the mechanical machine requires fuel and maintenance just as the physical body needs sustenance, hydration, and rest. When I am up at 5:30 AM, I feel better if I get to bed by 9:30 PM the night before.

Planning and preparation yield success. It’s why I pack my lunch and prepare the truck each day. A full tank gets the job done. Eating healthy and drinking water creates stamina.  Stamina engenders perseverance.

Garbage in. Garbage out.  One of the grunts recently left their water jug at home and tried to work that day while hydrating with energy drinks. Bad plan. He vomited under a tree and rested in the shade before securing a ride home by noon.

Just as a diesel engine overheats with low or dirty oil, if I wait to hydrate until I’m thirsty, it’s too late.

The right gear at the right time. Remain smooth and alert. And let the machines do the work.

A machine is only as effective as its operator

A machine in the wrong hands can be a wrecking ball.  But with the right operator, it’s a tool to accomplish a specific purpose.  When it comes to operating machinery, people get better at what they operate every day and, over time, experience provides knowledge of a particular machine’s capabilities and limitations. An experienced operator can make any machine sing; and every good operator learns the most efficient ways to maximize the effectiveness of their respective instrument.

When entering the smaller, more remote, quarry, I can always tell when this particular guy is on duty. He will perch his wheel-loader up high on a pile with his bucket balanced over the edge so he can see below. He looks like the Karate Kid up there in a Zen pose. Then, as I spin my truck to a particular pile below, he will swoop down like a bird of prey.

As I roll up empty (i.e. no load) to that quarry, I know to idle into the gradual downhill corner at the entrance in eighth gear, then downshift to sixth gear before descending into the pit.  Why? Because sixth is the right gear to navigate the work area and drive down the hill. Fifth is too low and seventh is too high.

Experience.

Then the Karate Kid will load me in two scoops at the same pile where his coworkers (in the same loader) will take two-and-a-half to three buckets.  I’ve been watching (i.e. paying attention) and I think it’s because he drives into the pile with a little more speed before finessing the bucket just right to balance more rock vertically.  Obviously, experience has shown the Karate Kid the more efficient way to load rock into a dump truck.

Then, once full, I will straighten out the truck, lower the tag-wheels (unless it’s raining), and get my RPMs sufficiently high so I can climb out of the pit in fourth gear.  Why fourth gear?  Because experience has shown me that the engine revs too high (at too low of a speed) in third gear and fifth gear bogs down – because, when loaded, there isn’t enough time and distance to drive the RPMs to 1,400 before hitting the bottom of the incline. That’s why.

Experience is the best teacher, practice makes perfect, and “getting in the groove” just might be a Zen conception after all.

Viewing the road far ahead allows for the best options later

Not even the most experienced operator can predict the future. The universe is, by and large, random and variances always arise. No driver can magically foresee what will happen on the road on any given day. All one can do is to remain alert, and be cautious, and this is why experience has taught commercial truck drivers to always be looking far down the road.

Just when I’ve thought I’ve seen it all, I get surprised again and again. Bicyclists are mostly clueless. Roads are magnets to balls and balls are magnets for kids.  Last week I came over a hill and onto an old fossil driving an ancient Chamberlin tractor pulling a rusted-out Ford pick-up. The old guy was swallowing my lane on a two-lane road with a narrow, steep shoulder. He was driving 20 MPH in a 55 zone and, fortunately, I spotted that circus show two miles before, or enough time to slow down into seventh gear so I could follow him for a while before passing at the next opportunity.

When driving a loaded 10-speed dump truck (or semi-trailer), you can’t just slam on the brakes and stop quickly. It takes time to downshift and allow the gears to slow the rig.  But most drivers don’t understand this as they pull out onto the road from an intersection and proceed to accelerate to a speed of 45 miles an hour in a 55 zone – and just ahead of a 60,000-pound, 12-wheeled, steel missile armed with stone projectiles and diesel fuel.

Even on the same stretch of road that I consistently travel over many times a day, the strangest variances will blip up in unbelievable ways.  Two weeks ago, on the way back from the small quarry, I spotted some madness in the distance: There were two leading vehicles with flashing lights in advance of a semi pulling a house. Yes. An entire house. One of the lead vehicles was in the opposite lane and passed to my left. But the other lead vehicle was driving straight at me and waving me over to the shoulder because the house was taking up half of my lane.  Fortunately, I spotted all that insanity miles before, and was almost stopped halfway on the shoulder by the time the second lead vehicle drove by waving at me. And, fortunately, the shoulder was wide and dry enough for me to park half the truck. Otherwise, being fully loaded with rock, I may have tipped into the ditch.

And, last week, even navigating city streets in a tiny town on the way back to the main garage, I saw a skid loader with a claw bucket gripped onto a 6-inch diameter pipe that was as wide as the street. But because I was paying attention, I drove straight through the intersection ahead instead of turning. Otherwise, it would have made for an awkward game of chicken.

Weird variances occur every day, but better options are made available if the variances are seen further away as opposed to up close – because, by then, it is too late.

Call it spot-check preparation if you want, but it’s only effective when paying attention to the long view while remembering to keep an eye on the nearby gauges from the driver’s seat, too.

To be sure, “The Road” is a metaphor for life, as well; and the proposed social and economic Great Reset now manifesting ahead in this Fourth Turning is a big, fat variance.   Madness approaches.  A dark and dangerous circus, indeed.

Final considerations

We see only so far in the distance and no one knows for sure what lies over the next hill or around a forthcoming turn in the road. All we can do is pay attention, prepare the best we can, and watch for any variances as they arise.

In the meantime, I will enjoy the journey for as long as possible and appreciate the views.

The Borg requires consent. So, I do not give my consent. I will strive to help build as it destroys.

Around the Fourth of July holiday, many Americans will have left their work behind to join with their families and friends to celebrate what it means to be free. Unsurprisingly, the same people who remember what they are celebrating are the same who will never forget.

Tributes are made with parades and barbeques and picnics and upward gazes in the night.

Oh, say can you see, by the dawn’s early light,

What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming?

Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight,

Over the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?

And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air,

Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.

Oh say, does that star spangled banner yet wave

Over the land of the free and the home of the brave?

– “Star Spangled Banner”, Francis Scott Key, 1779–1843

Independence Day is observed with fireworks as these commemorate the red glare of rockets and bombs bursting. Through that dark night, and perilous hours, America’s flag remained at daybreak, shining. It was still there.

Happy birthday, America.  You still have your moments.

Author: Uncola

I am one who has found the road less traveled while remaining a whiskered, whispering witness to the world. I hope what you just considered was worth the price and time spent. www.TheTollOnline.com

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Patricia A Parke
Patricia A Parke

I enjoyed this article. Very entertaining and informative. I lived in Texas, New Mexico and Utah for 17 years and experienced life in small towns, beautiful sunsets, and life on a human scale. I’m back East now but hope to return soon. Thank you for the pictures of the small town.

Wideguy
Wideguy

I’m a small town lover myself, except for the things I don’t like about small towns.

Anyway, I learned something too. I didn’t know there were small towns in America that had concrete streets.

I’m east of the Appalachians. So is a lot of the U.S. that’s very different from where I live. One thing I’ve noticed, living in lots of very different social environments, there are always good people.

lamont cranston
lamont cranston

Back in the late 70s through most of the 80s, had to fill in & drive a ’67 Chevy heating oil delivery truck when things got busy during the winter. 1,800 gals. capacity. 4 speed w/ a splitter. Learned to “feather” RPMs to split w/o the clutch. As this was in semi-mountainous country, first rule was whaever gear you climbed in, that’s what you go down in.

Really enjoyed it. Had to learn from scratch, as my MBA program didn’t offer a class in truck driving.

Wideguy
Wideguy

I don’t care about those rules or who made them. When I drove unsyncronized transmissions, I flogged them and always double clutched. Lucky for me I learned from old experienced hands who knew their shit.

Anonymous
Anonymous

Thank You.

Eyes Wide Shut
Eyes Wide Shut

Only 4 more prepping months to go before the next canceled or stolen election.
Remember to plan for the really really big shoe to drop between now and then.

We’re circling the bowl.

Traditional conservative leadership is still completely nonexistent in the equation.
Either it doesn’t truly exist or it is hiding under it’s desk crying, mumbling to and wetting itself.

Somebody’s got to take executive command, rally the troops and run point or all could very well be lost to this amoral freak show.

It’s not about us anymore but about right over wrong, good over evil, the constitutional Republic and the very future of our children our descendants.

If it can truly be saved.

Or do we and ours prefer to live under their tyranny instead?

It’s time to gather and polish our five smooth stones.

Eyes Wide Shut
Eyes Wide Shut

1 Samuel 17

31 When the words that David spoke were heard, they informed [u]Saul, and he [v]sent for him. 32 And David said to Saul, “(AI)May no one’s heart fail on account of him; (AJ)your servant will go and fight this Philistine!” 33 But Saul said to David, “(AK)You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight him; for you are only a youth, while he has been a warrior since his youth.” 34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant was tending his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and took a sheep from the flock, 35 I went out after it and [w]attacked it, and (AL)rescued the sheep from its mouth; and when it rose up against me, I grabbed it by its mane and struck it and killed it. 36 Your servant has [x]killed both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, since he has defied the armies of the living God.” 37 And David said, “(AM)The Lord who saved me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear, He will save me from the hand of this Philistine.” So Saul said to David, “(AN)Go, and may the Lord be with you.” 38 Then Saul clothed David with his military attire and put a bronze helmet on his head, and outfitted him with armor. 39 And David strapped on his sword over his military attire and struggled at walking, for he had not trained with the armor. So David said to Saul, “I cannot go with these, because I have not trained with them.” And David took them [y]off. 40 Then he took his staff in his hand and chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in the shepherd’s bag which he had, that is, in his shepherd’s pouch, and (AO)his sling was in his hand; and he approached the Philistine.

41 Then the Philistine came and approached David, with the shield-bearer in front of him. 42 When the Philistine looked and saw David, (AP)he was contemptuous of him; for he was only a youth, and [z](AQ)reddish, with a handsome appearance. 43 So the Philistine said to David, “(AR)Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And (AS)the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 The Philistine also said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh (AT)to the birds of the sky and the [aa]wild animals.” 45 But David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a [ab]saber, (AU)but I come to you in the name of the Lord of armies, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the Lord will hand you over to me, and I will strike you and remove your head from you. Then I will give the (AV)dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild animals of the earth, (AW)so that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, 47 and that this entire assembly may know that (AX)the Lord does not save by sword or by spear; (AY)for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will hand you over to us!”

48 Then it happened, when the Philistine [ac]came closer to meet David, that (AZ)David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. 49 And David put his hand into his bag and took from it a stone and slung it, and struck the Philistine on his forehead. And the stone penetrated his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground.

50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with the sling and the stone: he struck the Philistine and killed him, and there was no sword in David’s hand. 51 Then David ran and stood over the Philistine, and (BA)took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and finished him, and cut off his head with it. (BB)When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled. 52 Then the men of Israel and Judah rose up and shouted, and they pursued the Philistines [ad]as far as the valley, and to the gates of (BC)Ekron. And the Philistine dead [ae]lay along the way to (BD)Shaaraim, even to Gath and Ekron. 53 Then the sons of Israel returned from their close pursuit of the Philistines, and plundered their camps. 54 And David took the Philistine’s head and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his weapons in his tent.

Anonymous
Anonymous

“It’s time to gather and polish our five smooth stones.”

If You should happen to see this…D & G reference? Quick research in the middle of this query…4 brothers potentially?

Sorry! Never mind, answer in the post below. Wasn’t ‘there’ this morning…It’s like Bible study, thanks!

Wideguy
Wideguy

I think I’ll hang around my polling place and watch. I have no idea what will happen, but I expect there won’t be cheating that’s visible. Not here.

I never liked “traditional conservative leadership”, at least not any later than Barry Goldwater.

Who are you thinking of when you say “traditional conservative leadership?

Yes, I think America can be saved, but only by modifying the Constitution, making it much more clear. I expect a war to be the result. I’m too old and unfit for war. I’ll just try to keep barbarians out of my neighborhood, and hope I have some help. I never could throw stones with a sling. Certainly not accurately…

Do you really think a Commander with assumed/usurped wartime powers would be the hot ticket to save our Liberty/Rights/Liberties/Freedom? When in the history of the world did such a fantasy become a reality?

Actually, I can think of a few time wehn a military dictator stepped aside after order was restored, but it’s really quite rare. Who do you have in mind?

Anonymous
Anonymous

1977 International Transtar II.
13 going forward, 3 going backward.
From one end of this country to the other and from top to bottom.
Back in the 80s when I was younger.
This perspective on how the world works was invaluable to me and matured me beyond my age.
And by the way, only used the clutch for first gear.

august
august

>>>only used the clutch for first gear.

If there any stick-shift troglodytes out there who haven’t tried it, shifting without using the clutch is a skill which is not all that difficult to learn, at least not on a 1972 Toyota Corolla. So easy that even people with a doctorate* can do it.

BTW Stucky, great post!

* probably not a doctorate in the social sciences or “humanities”.

lamont cranston
lamont cranston

So easy a caveman could do it!!! Fer sure, n0t a Ph.D.

Anonymous
Anonymous

Well according to 23&me I’m about 2% Neanderthal. Does that qualify?

lamont cranston
lamont cranston

Yes! Piltdown Man & any Ole Miss grad, no.

Anonymous
Anonymous

Alabama
Born in Meridian though

Wideguy
Wideguy

Not all smart people are helpless in the real world, and not everyone with a Doctorate in whatever, even mush-head subjects like psychology and sociology and other touchy-feely “sciences” can often use machinery.

Years ago, I built a house for a man who had a Doctorate in Chemistry, a field that requires a highly logical mind … Somehow, he was helpless outside of his field, which doesn’t tell you anything useful when it comes to house building.

Wideguy
Wideguy

Yeah, I did it when I had to or was driving (or riding) something that would easily do it. It’s the stopping and starting without a clutch that causes real problems. In cases like that, timing becomes critical!

Obviously, a Corolla isn’t a big truck, and they have very different transmissions. Which one would you say is most like an old tractor?

BTW, Physical skills and dexterity aren’t limited to people who didn’t make it through High School. Motorcycles are particularly easy to shift without the clutch. Better up than down.

VOWG
VOWG

Internationals were to be avoid for many years. Some guys could not drive them, period.

Gmpatriot
Gmpatriot

Great read! Thank you for the fresh perspective.

Oldtoad of Green Acres
Oldtoad of Green Acres

And the flag still waved.
Bullshit, I’m mad.
Cannot find grease. Machines do not run with out grease. 2 tubes a day for a excavator and I cannot buy any.
If I cannot find grease, how long before there is no gas.
God Bless Amelika.

Check Six
Check Six

O T,
Try (bad word on TBP) “Amazon”…lots available.

Oldtoad of Green Acres
Oldtoad of Green Acres

Thanks, tried Amzn, first try nothing, then off brands.
Malwart cancelled the 2 tube order. Tractor Supply was out. Autozone had a few so I bought most except the expensive synthetic.
HOWEVER, my stimulus check came in the mail today, better go cash it before the money is worthless.

lamont cranston
lamont cranston

As a former Esso oil jobber that did a week in their lube skool in Houston, normally buy synthetic. But, if you’re using tht quantity daily, get the least expensive.

Wideguy
Wideguy

Maybe he has hundreds of new machines.

It’s hard to believe you’d presume to give advice about lubricants and their use without knowing what machinery is going to be lubricated, how it is being used, and how old it is.

I don’t think a week in Esso’s “lube school” was enough.

MadMike
MadMike

I think we all experience the same situation with many things.
My solution, whether I eat it, drink it, pour it, spray it, wipe with it, or load it in a magazine, is to buy all I can, when I can, where I can.

YourAverageJoe
YourAverageJoe

Buy gold or silver with that fake money.

lamont cranston
lamont cranston

Use a tube/yr. but the Mobil1 5W-30 for the Cayenne Diesel & 3500 Series MB Van has gone from $96 to $155 for 12 qts. Buying 48 qts tomorrow. BTW, before you change oil, shake each bottle good, as the Adpack will settle.

YourAverageJoe
YourAverageJoe

Walmart synthetic multi weight oils and their oil filters are actually great quality.
My Toyotas love it and Silverado still strong with 285,000 on it.

Wideguy
Wideguy

12 quarts is not enough quantity to worry about the “Aspack” settling.

Sorry, typo. “Adpack”.

Wideguy
Wideguy

There’s plenty of grease around here.

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=Shop+for+grease

Of course, most all of those vendors will ship it to you. I’d advise stocking up, but if you can’t get fuel you don’t need grease. Use your own best judgement.

flash
flash

The majority of the roads crews here in Deep Dixie are South of the Border immigrants . The resurfacing projects go on forever, the engineering as pertains to drainage and design is ridiculously inept and the finished surfaces are often worse than the ones which were replaced. Plenty of shiny new machinery though.

Wideguy
Wideguy

Deep in Dixie, there are mostly lazey dumb Crackers or affirmative action drones in charge of the road projects. Not exclusively of course. but you are wrong to blame the result on the workers.

In many cases it is politicians and their cronies who are directly to blame. The engineers are generally competent and often overruled, even by bean counters working for the politicians.

Mary Christine

Watch those uncontrolled train crossings if you encounter any. The dump truck driver (who was hauling rock to a levee) was killed last Monday. 4 people in all have died after the Amtrack train derailed and ended up on it’s side. First reports were that the driver was 19 but it turns out that’s how many years ye had been driving. Brush obscured the crossing and the locals had been complaining about it for at least 3 years to the county. Lawsuits are already flying.

Uncola

Thank you, MC. The school bus driver in me is always extra cautious around railroad tracks. I suppose a train hitting a dump truck might be comparable to a loaded dump truck hitting a car

bucknp
bucknp

As an employee of a RR company, during orientation it was discussed about unfortunate people that were run over by trains at RR crossings. A gentleman giving a presentation explained trains do not “brake” like automobiles. Without going into physics , a typical train carrying a typical number of cars requires a hell of a distance to stop , say at 60MPH. Stats the presenter gave were up to one mile for a complete stop. The point, while this RR company was completely “self insured”, families of those run over by our trains would question , “why did the train not stop?” Not possible. Trains are heavy things for certain and traveling the speed of automobiles no way in hell they can stop for someone that decides to jump the tracks as a train is approaching.

Diogenese
Diogenese

Miss every other gear out , second to fourth , split then second to fourth again , saves your arm a he’ll of a lot , you only need all the gears when pulling hard up a hill keeping the engine in its best torque range .
Fourty years of driving experience in just about every type and make of truck / gearbox invented .

Uncola

Dio,

Yep. I really appreciate the driving tips on this thread. So thank you.

This truck really likes 5th to 7th, but I will inch thru most stop signs (or slow roll up to red lights) in 6th. On the highway stops I often go 10th, 8th, 6th quite a bit. And when unloaded I’ll usually start out in 3rd or 4th depending on incline and road surface. The torque on this E7 @ 1400 to 1800 rpms is really something, let me tell you

bucknp
bucknp

Amtrak runs fast as hell. As a land surveyor in the 80’s my crew had to “tie down” some RR tracks that adjoined a piece of land we were surveying, this in Grand Prairie , Texas. No one in the company for which I worked had the insight to check train schedules as my crew would be surveying in order to locate RR tracks on paper. I was the crew leader, the Party Chief, hey where is the party…joke. I should have thought about this but I did not. An Amtrak came rolling through, and mind you, this is within the city limits of Grand Prairie , Texas, DFW stuff. That train had to be traveling at least 80 MPH suddenly appearing from around a curve. Myself and two others were setting control points in order to tie those tracks to our survey. Maybe the train was traveling 100 MPH! All I know is we were fortunate to have exited the tracks without tripping on rails. It was a damn fast exit! Standing about 10-15′ from the tracks as the Amtrak passed the force of the wind from that train was like standing head on in a 90 MPH wind gust which I have experienced. We maintained our balance but that was the worst experience I had as a surveyor. For years and years people have talked about surveyors being run over by vehicles along public roads. At one time the occupation may have been considered one of the most dangerous.

BTW, no pun intended, that ole boy in the bottom right picture, I’m not certain he could have exited those tracks in time. Sad deal on that derailment.

Anonymous
Anonymous

” Brush obscured the crossing and the locals had been complaining about it for at least 3 years to the county. ”

Didn’t pay attention much since ‘Headline’. Don’t believe Anything. Anymore.
Few observations, limited exposure to ‘The Story’, HEADLINE! several places.

NO pics of the truck. (Currently ‘Wheels’., which may be technically referred to as a ‘truck’, unsure)

Appears to be ‘Arrow Straight’ section of track. MAYBE the ‘conductor’ couldn’t ‘see’ the truck? For the sake of brevity, i’ll leave it at that. Immaterial.

Ya don’t have to be an Injun’ with your ear stuck to the track…to recognize…”Buffalo cum”.

One can hear, and eventually ‘feel’ an approaching train from a long, long, ways off.

WHY did the driver NOT ‘get clear’?

Uncola

WHY did the driver NOT ‘get clear’?

Been thinking about this…

1.) He could have thought he would beat the train, then decided differently and tried to stop but coasted or skidded onto the tracks instead

2.) He could have slowed to cross the tracks in a high-range gear, then quickly decided to cross at the last moment while shifting into to a lower gear and forgetting to push the splitter down. The splitter only engages upon shifting through neutral. This means if he clutched-shifted (in a 10-speed) to what he thought was 3rd or 4th gear without hitting the splitter first, he would have bogged down (or stalled) in what was actually 8th or 9th gear

3.) Or he could have slowed to cross in a higher gear, but slowed to much in that gear then bogged down as he accelerated to cross

4.) He could have missed a gear and ran out of time trying to sync into the correct gear and/or he panicked and froze in trying

5.) He could of had a health emergency like a heart attack or stroke, or aneurysm, as momentum carried him onto the tracks

6.) Maybe even a suicide

7.) Or he just wasn’t paying attention, had the radio cranked up to high, or was otherwise distracted as the universe aligned into perfectly bad timing

Anonymous
Anonymous

Thank You. Forensic analysis based on experience if i ever dun seed one.

#5 & #7, cosmic alignment, maybe Karma, plausible.

#6? personally, i couldn’t stand the suspense.

Wideguy
Wideguy

Did you know that large objects appear to being going slower than small objects travelling the same speed? That fact explains a lot of railroad crossing accidents.

If you can’t see if a train might be coming, listen. Get out and walk to where you can see. Whatever it takes. Or, toss the dice and pull out into the crossing. Don’t blame anyone else for the results.

Stucky

“Last week I came over a hill and onto an old fossil driving an ancient Chamberlin tractor pulling a rusted-out Ford pick-up. “

You were driving a 60,000 pound missile, right? I would have just run him over …. Darwin-izing ‘Murica one dumbass at a time.

Stucky

Just TWO grunts?? I think I see a problem with your organization … too many Chiefs, not enough Injuns!

That was a seriously enjoyable read!!!

My first choice of a career after leaving the Air Force was to be a long-haul truck driver. I love driving. I love big machines. I love being alone. Because people generally suck. I love hard work (and driving for a living IS hard work.) I love not having some dipshit “boss” hovering over me every day, or attending endless retarded meetings, or being a prisoner in a fucking cubicle. Soooo, I eventually decided to become a computer programmer. Makes sense, no?

I made that choice for one, and only one, reason. I also wanted a family. I wanted children. And I wanted to BE THERE for them. And that is why I opted for slavery.

Uncola

Lol thanks, Stuck.

I will say the Colonel and Captain do most of the heavy lifting in the big machines all day with the Sergeant, grunts, and dump truck drivers working in support.

Honestly, though, they all work like grunts 5-6 days a week and the Colonel is the first one to work in the morning and the last to leave at night.

Impressive guys and I’m glad to help them out this summer

Anonymous
Anonymous

Your description of that dying concept of “work ethic” is what is almost encouraging.

Auntie

Anonymous
Anonymous

Sounds like The MMFIC is “the apparent low bidder”. An alleged quip by one of the early astronauts…”What were Your thoughts on ‘Lift-Off’?…

‘My God!, This thing was built by the low bidder!’

Absolutely no reflection on You. Clearly, high employee ‘turnover’ rate. Always a reason.

Harrington Richardson: Gimme Sachwerte!
Harrington Richardson: Gimme Sachwerte!

Entertaining and quite informative. Thank you!

Yahsure
Yahsure

I’ve driven a lot over the years, including driving cabovers. I could float gears in them. When I drove a dump truck I often ran the loader also. nice article.

4th Turner
4th Turner

Viewing the road far ahead allows for the best options later

What if where we are headed takes us to a singularity event where the cycles of the 4 socio-economic seasons essentially come to an end?

Here’s just under 8 minutes examining where we are headed:

Wideguy
Wideguy

You mean some sort of “singularity” that will just suck up the earth? What if it’s powerful enough to suck up our galaxy? Or the universe?

Certainly there are cycles we don’t yet know of.

Anonymous
Anonymous

I enjoyed the your article. Gives me something to think about instead of the leftest crap I see coming from DC. I like the mention of the Borg. We must assimilate, not!

keann
keann

Great read – sights and sounds of the real America with real Americans. Thank God for small towns, and good, honest hardworking people – my they outlast the borg.

Robert Gore

The hiatus and the job haven’t diminished your writing at all. They may have improved it. I had no idea where this was going at first other than a compelling description of your job, but you merged it seamlessly into a wider meditation. A great article. I really enjoyed it and I even learned a thing or two. Thanks for taking the time to write it.

Uncola

My pleasure. Thank you, R.G. And if you do end up posting it at StraightLineLogic.com I always enjoy reading your bylines to the articles over there. For me, it’s sort of like eating dessert before dinner

Robert Gore

Doug

I inadvertently forgot to bookmark your article yesterday like I meant to, but no worries, it got posted today (Sunday) when my readership is usually higher anyway. The byline:

“There’s something about dealing with reality 10 to 12 hours a day in a real life productive job that makes a man more . . . realistic.”

As I said, great article.

Uncola

Lol great byline. Love it

bigfoot
bigfoot

Thanks for the perspective and for the vigor and cheerfulness of the writing. Sane people like to work.

Wideguy
Wideguy

Being productive gives good people a good feeling.

That said, I’ve known a few people who were crazy in how they worked and how much. Not that they were dull boys, but they had no time to let their shiny side show. Unless you were working with them, but even then, you’d only get brief flashes.

Larry

Great article. I am the “general” at a small Construstion company that drills water wells for cities and industry. Our guys are the greatest unsung heros that get up and do the impossible every day. I am proud to work with them. Our country would be lost without these men.

Wideguy
Wideguy

Can I assume that you work hard to make their jobs as easy and productive as possible? That is a generals job, right, to make sure the workers have everything they need to do the job, when they need it.

What sort of impossible things have you seen them do?

Vigilant
Vigilant

The Borg requires consent. So, I do not give my consent. I will strive to help build as it destroys.

“That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”

If the powers are not just, consent needs to be withdrawn. The just powers were installed in order to secure rights.

The people were and are meant to retain their rights, that’s the whole point. Many people repeat, we can’t do this, or we can’t do that. YES WE CAN. We can do anything we please by way of giving our consent or removing our consent. At this point, the consent of many needs to be withdrawn at the same time because the powers that we are dealing with are not just. The Borg collective wants to strip all of us of all rights, and we get to decide whether or not we will consent to this.

Wideguy
Wideguy

Are you advising everyone who will vote against Biden or whatever other sorry loser the Democrats nominate to abstain from voting?

I’m hoping you have a better plan for withdrawing consent than that… What is it? What should the many do?

VOWG
VOWG

I enjoyed that. Had many years of experience driving many different types of vehicles.

Anonymous
Anonymous

I really do love these types of articles from Doug and Marc. Not sure why, but the detailed explanations – the “How Things Work” methodology – just feels right.

GDP, usually gruntled
GDP, usually gruntled

Behold the magnificent diesel engine. A marvel of engineering that turns an incredibly energy-dense fuel into astounding amounts of torque with incredible reliability for oh so many practical uses-
until the government steps in and burdens it with egr, dpf, def fluid and a myriad of other “clean air” encumbrances that exponentially increase the cost of purchase and operation and drive reliability into the toilet.
Leave it to Leviathan to screw up a good thing for increasingly diminishing returns.

starfcker
starfcker

Great, great, great

cz
cz

great to read something new from you. thanks.
re ai/seeing down the road (also looking behind the curtain), good vid here on not-really-hidden inner workings of ai, but also deep clues to the worldview of scientism warlocks.
i recommend the whole thing, but the nitty gritty starts around the 27 min mark.
happy independence day

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”
‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭3:17‬ ‭

Hudson H Luce

First of all, Jaron Lanier was doing this VR stuff in the late 1980s-early 1990s. The difference is that the technology is much cheaper, faster, more memory, and more processing power – see http://jaronlanier.com/

A few interesting references – one old: https://sidawson.org/2011/03/tv-is-heroin-crossed-with-hypnosis and some new: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2925392/ and https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33466371/. Finally, this: https://mailchi.mp/humanetech.com/the-wisdom-gap-explained-575802?e=4efb1a4466

So the Metaverse might be far more dangerous than TV. As for AI, there’s a lot of human thumbs still on the scales, there’s still no volition, although pattern recognition and recombination can convince people that there’s volition present – they’ll pass the Turing test, at least in terms of perceptions. As for the “angels” and “channeling” stuff, if you look at how “psychic mediums” work, you’ll see that they do a lot of really subtle information gathering during the “reading”. Computer programs can pretty easily mimic this sort of process. And then, there’s Eliza – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ELIZA

By the way, there was some guided imagery going on – that bit with “Go ahead and see your body. You will notice you are now in the clouds, connected to the angels” is a pretty standard start for a hypnotic induction – https://hypnotistexaminers.org/guided-imagery-for-inductions/ – no AI needed for that.

A lot of this stuff is actually old tech, it’s got a lot of “AI” hype on top, the icing on a pretty old cake…

Anonymous
Anonymous

Thank You for Your efforts, many interesting links. Found ‘Guided meditation’ very helpful at one transition, thought about getting a few that i really connected with out of storage. Crap shoot as to wether i could find ’em. Did find THIS one in my email. Long story, ‘Inside Joke’. The World…in a nutshell.

https://hypnotistexaminers.org/guided-imagery-for-inductions/ did not take me to a specific ‘spot’, multiple links for that .org

bucknp
bucknp

Curious if folks there utilize crushed concrete. Reading about dumping old concrete, in NE Texas we have concrete crushing plants. When a concrete parking lot, or road, whatever is dug up some of the old concrete goes to a few plants that crush it and sell for driveways etc. Installed properly crushed concrete will harden with the “fines” in it just like fresh concrete but not the baby butt smooth finish like new work. I hired a man in the business with some 14 yard dump trucks, some say 12 , that had the rear of the dump set up so it would scrape about six inches of soil before the crushed concrete came rolling out. Hard to explain, the key is to get that material below grade and in my case about 600 feet of “drive” leading up to my home. Moisture rises from the earth so that the fines ( cement) in the crushed material harden, “harder than a rock”. People around here will buy any number of expensive road/drive “gravel” but in this sand it will wash away depending on how level the terrain or it simply wears down. With the crushed concrete some of the aggravate will wash depending on terrain. My drive is steep with lots of runoff. It’s like driving or walking on rock though and “solid as a rock”.

Like I say , the installation has to be done correctly. Crushed concrete is what was originally mixed to create concrete, aggregate and cement. It’s darn good material and I’m one that looks around at all the waste we humans create, all kinds of stuff that goes into landfills and I’m not talking just household garbage. Anyway, just curious if folks are aware of how wonderful crushed concrete for “country” homestead use. I cannot imagine what a baby butt smooth concrete drive of 600 feet would cost. Way out of my league.

The cost? The work was done around 2012. Most things seem expensive to me anyway. 600 feet of hard drive was $3600. It took the man a day and a half to do it. Crushed concrete material itself is not real expensive , even less than road base the state of Texas uses. Of course the material was less then.

Uncola

Buck,

Last week I hauled out two loads of dirt for a 25′ x 30′ section of a grocery store parking lot and then dumped back in two loads of recycled concrete that was ground almost to dust. So, yes, it is used as rock underlayment here as well.

Wideguy
Wideguy

OK then, when you said you were dumping the torn up concrete, you were dumping it at the crusher.

Dust doesn’t make a good base for anything. Good roads start with fairly large stone. Good drainage is critical, and you don’t get good drainage through dust.

Like bucknp said, an unsifted unwashed crusher run makes a good top.

Anonymous
Anonymous

likewise, in switzerland a construction/demo site will have multiple dumpsters for separating right from the beginning different types of materials. concrete and asphalt get (separately) crushed and reused in aggregates for more concrete or asphalt.

UteSkinFan
UteSkinFan

Just be careful when using “recycled” concrete as a subgrade under concrete pavement…sucks the moisture out quick and concrete goes off a little faster..at least in our drier climate. Also good for bridging in wetter, high water table areas. FYI

bucknp
bucknp

The contractor that did our drive job brought in a pavement roller as the final step of the job. Packed down and the earths moisture hardened this stuff well. It’s surface is rough but provides for good traction.

MadMike
MadMike

I’m glad to hear you are enjoying it.
I’ve been there, done that, with floating the gears, double clutching, etc.
I started in HS with crash-box British sports cars and Sports Car Club of America. Later, after 4 years in The University of Science Music and Culture (where I got a Masters in Ballistics and Kinetic Energy), I was back in the civilian world. That’s when I found out I could also drive a truck. I was working day labor when the boss said “I’m short a driver, anyone who can drive that truck works today”. Yeah, it was a hand full, but I managed it. Soon enough I had the license to go with it and a real job.

Unless I missed it, it doesn’t sound like the dumper has a Jake brake, which I consider the greatest safety invention ever for truckers. I started in a ’59 International with a twin-stick brownie, then drove a cabover ’69 Pete with a 9 speed. Quite a collection mixed in between them, but my last truck was ’96 cabover Freightliner. It was also the first truck I drove with cruise control. That innovation made some of those long flat stretches going water to water almost enjoyable.

I have to say, I don’t miss the road at all. I got sick of the scales and the bears turning drivers into a revenue source, while OUR revenue decreased every year. How OTR drivers stand it with Pre-pass monitoring, electronic logs, GPS, computers in the trucks, and a cell phone leash is beyond me.

bucknp
bucknp

I’d never make it now or before as a long haul driver as I have a drowsy driver tendency regardless “enough” sleep etc. Staring at road stripes has never been my “thing” . I did think about being a truck driver at one time doing all the greasy spoon diner stuff , and whites, etc. etc.

hardscrabble farmer
hardscrabble farmer

We’ll raise a glass in your honor tomorrow. I can’t think of a better way to remember what the cost of freedom is than to read someone talking about the work that goes into it.

Uncola

And I’ll be raising one right back at you and those at your gathering tomorrow. In fact, all of you (as well as the other TBP readers who couldn’t be there) were on my mind as I wrote the closing paragraphs of this article. Cheers🙂

EN2 SS
EN2 SS

Great article! Now do that driving while pulling a 53′ long, 13’6″ high, 8.5′ wide trailer, from Houston to New York City, loading & delivering in every little burg you can imagine. ;-))
There are some great drivers out there in all that heavy machinery that built and keeps this country running.

JimN
JimN

For some reason I passed on reading your article shortly after it popped but just went back to it now. Its early paragraphs took me back to the 1960s when a friend and I were in Philly. I was driving an old used and clapped out Jaguar XK140 with a 4-speed transmission. The throwout bearing linkage broke and we needed to reach the Ohio state line to make it home. We didn’t want to mess with the Pennsylvania turnpike so made the trip further north, all on two lane highways. Although I’d never done it before we had heard about “synchro shifting” and that was the only alternative.

Your whole piece was a delight. A bittersweet reflection on how able-bodied and -minded Americans still make their world go ’round – at least in some places. Your rhetorical, “For how long?” and the comment about “collective focus” are real heart stoppers.

Speaking of stopping, I stopped at the local supermarket this morning to pick up some last minute things for the Fourth: not a single hamburger bun in the store. The manager said there’s a serious shortage of them in this area.

Have a great holiday!

Hunkered in Wyoming
Hunkered in Wyoming

I just lurk here but enjoy your ability to write and even more, your ability to think.

Davido Davido
Davido Davido

Thank you! Most enjoyable.

PistolPete
PistolPete

The people of this country… 99.9% probably… are totally dependent on the local food stores for their groceries. They will keep working as long as they’re being fed. Trucks and cars will keep working as long as they’re being fed. Point is, take away our food and fuel and we’re toast… in a hurry.

The Borg control both, so they don’t really need our consent or approval… all they need to do is put the squeeze on us and that 99.9% will comply. So, decide now if you’re in the .1% or not… willing to starve or live on the run to stay out of the Borg collective.

The future looks bleak at this point in time, unless a miracle of God’s provision and protection takes place. Remember, it’s only FOUR months until the mid term elections… which the Demoncrats can’t afford to let happen… so, let’s see how they’ll try to shut it down. It’s 1860 all over again… on steroids.

Ghost

Doug, I meant to get on here earlier and make a comment but time got away, as it does.

Like you, I’ve gotten really busy doing more serious things than placing patriotic rocks on dead soldiers’ graves. While a lot of kids around here might know where to get a bunch of ammunition painted red, white and blue in the immediate vicinity, it was really just a fund-raising effort that went well for a while, but after folks started doing the mask nonsense and acting like Black Death was headed their way, I stopped.

I think I scared one old lady at a nursing home half to death when I suggested I feel quite safe walking around graveyards looking for fallen veterans. She said her mother would have thought I was a death-walker, whatever that is/was.

So, I’m building breeding pairs of rabbits for sale. I have four bucks and one doe. My retarded friend Larry got me a really sweet Giant Flemish at a swap meet, for which I paid him two bags of rabbit feed. Then, I put him in with my young doe (the one that almost skinned my Angora Dwarf alive – my retarded friend helped me doctor him up and asked me if I had any sense… putting a three pound rabbit in a cage with a fifteen pound doe?), who has not been bred, but had just an almost fatal (for the buck) attempt one time.

I even named the new buck Beauregard since I planned for him to be the sire of a new line of Flemish Giants.

Well, Beauregard has zero interest in my does. He has been neutered and I’m the worst rabbit trader in the business, apparently.

On Sunday morning, my ancient big dog, Jake, announced a predator in the pasture. I saw a doglike shape larger than coyote, smaller than wolf (duh, fox!) sneaking toward a clump of brush left standing mid-field. When Jake started barking in earnest with the animal still paused, deciding whether the old dog was a threat, I hollered out (like a doofus) “I’m gonna get my rifle!” and the fox ran into the treeline, away from the clump of bushes.

I was trying to decide whether I might actually need a rifle when a little spotted fawn hobbled out of the brush and headed toward its mother, standing just in the opposite treeline.

It is a reminder that the predators of all ilk ALWAYS know when the children are left unguarded.

(I am thinking of renaming Beauregard “BotheGuard”, keeping him and letting him be a protective companion for the does.)

Ghost

It was long ago in Mayberry whilst pondering at the pond
With my old road guard buddy about a newbie I’d welcomed
Whom I thought quite possibly was worth keeping around.

I was reminded I’d frightened left a comment away
By seeming too chummy in my country gal way
Causing a shy little autist to go home to stay.

Good Gawd, Y’all… what is it good for?

But the jfish was a keeper and more prolific than others
With lyrical prose with more thinking than druthers
Who now finds great meaning amongst rockhauling truckers.

The biking biologist continues to rail against all the liars he’s met on the trail which ended his career on all research teams because he has the audacity to call the truth as it seems.

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1522483292?t=00h10m32s

Seriously, Doug, listen to ten minutes of JC’s new approach to getting the truth out there and consider sharing it on with your prayer group.

JC has had threats made on his truthtelling, even with the low key presence he has on Twitch, a gaming platform. He’s been exactly correct on the virus’s background from the beginning.

Since I tried to “feature” him here on TBP more than two years ago so much has happened in the world it has forced many of us to step back and look at the whole thing from a Big Picture point of view.

He’s got some really fine observations going on here and he’s quite right about all of it, especially his belief that Fauci is part of the population reduction effort.

I would love to see him brought up charges for crimes against humanity.

Uncola

Thanks Mags. While watching fireworks, E.C. came to mind. I imagine the view is still pretty cool looking down on them.

Unrelated
Unrelated

Just
comment image

Ghost

Doug? I told Admin via email I would pay fiddy bucks for a good historical essay by Stucky on this celebration held annually in St. Petersburg. I did the briefest of searches and am a bit fascinated now.

Since either Admin ignored me or Stucky did, I thought I would extend the same offer to you, suggesting a donation of fifty dollars will be made to TBP when I see a decent 1500 to 2500 word essay with images explaining why this Russian Holiday appears on their calendar in such a spectacular way in 1968?

It really is spectacular… take a look at 2019! Wow!

Uncola

You should write it. According to the internet:

Scarlet Sails. Part of Russia’s White Nights Festival. Based on a 1923 book that was made into a 1961 film and became more popular in Russia after the movie.

Not sure about your “spectacular way in 1968” reference though

Unless I could find some relevant themes to tie into World War III and/or Putin’s psychological profile, I’d probably pass on your offer since I’d rather spend those 1,500-2,500 words elsewhere; and in spite of my desire for Admin’s receipt of that fiddy bucks😉

Ghost

Dammit. “Spectacular” in a hindsight viewpoint, Doug.

I suppose it is the value of the propaganda it offers NOW.

In the early 2000s, I edited a book for a college professor about women transforming politics. In my opinion, after completing the editing and revision and actual rewriting in some cases (college professors are really terrible writers in many cases), what happened in the 1970s sowed/sewed the seeds for the full bloom of rejection of traditions and values of American society.

The political term is incrementalism, which I suspect the celebration of the Red Sails to have successfully been ensconced in the Russian mind as a glorious celebration of Russian legend.

It is spectacular and I’m betting the mood there is a exuberant.

When is the last time we’ve seen exuberant?

Ghost

And, Admin will get his quarterly stipend from me anyway, just not for Scarlet Sails.

LOL

Herc
Herc

Thanks for the shout out Uncola, it’s reassuring to know there are still people out there who will listen to your point of view for what you are saying and not automatically label it “conspiracy” bc it’s not the mainstream talking point .

Uncola

Actually, thank you, Herc. Your particular perspective in that post, paired with your perfectly prodigious predilection for pithiness, was priceless.

overthecliff
overthecliff

My suspicions about the coming have been justified by your thoughts. Not because I agree but because I respect your opinion very much. I hope you are wrong,Doug.

PistolPete
PistolPete

Just a suggestion… get a different company to host your web site… five popups right of the gitgo is too much. No, I don’t care to have a popup blocker… not needed on most web sites.

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